The interplay of trauma, existential insecurity, and general woe, and the story of mankind’s belief in another life, in God or in gods, seems to persist throughout the ages. We have the Great Flood accounts in both Gilgamesh and in The Bible — given in one as a story of man’s correction by his gods, […]
The problem with economic downturns is that all the bills tend to come due at once. When banks see one portion of their loan book fail, they send out the debt collectors to make good and this adds pressure to an already pressured situation. Something similar happens in politics. “Never let a good crisis go […]
Every general practitioner has lonely elderly patients whose check-ups double as social events. They have few other occasions for interacting with people. Why not enlist the healthcare system in identifying people who are at highest risk for social isolation or loneliness? According to a major report from the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, […]
The news headlines this morning are breath-taking in their awfulness. A homeless man maimed for life because Dublin City Council thought his tent was unsightly and removed it with a digger while he was still inside. A teenager killed and chopped up (no word yet on whether he was alive or dead when the latter […]
Is Porn having a damaging effect on society? Ben Scallan comments #gript
Over the years Kanye West proved he was no stranger to public vulgarity. Obscene lyrics and lewd displays were part and parcel of everything he did, from his overly-sexualised music videos, to his open discussion of his favourite porn categories, and even his marriage to Kim Kardashian, whose career was arguably jump-started by her notorious […]
Yesterday, two thugs attacked and robbed a woman at gunpoint in broad daylight in the centre of Dublin. It’s a far too regular occurrence. You go online or read the paper and there’s an article about yet another random act of violence where someone was stabbed or beaten up on a night out, at a […]
If it weren’t so weird, the Extinction Rebellion would be hilarious. Watching a bunch of entitled middle class morons who are convinced that they have insider knowledge of our imminent demise is comical. But once you get a group of brainless, time rich hysterics from a foliage wearing death cult together in one place, things […]
“We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!” These were the spirited words of Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg in her address last week to the United Nations. Miss Thunberg’s claim that we are “in the beginning […]